Mother reunites with family 40 years after her 'death'

An extraordinary reunion has occurred in Kanpur, India, with two daughters coming face-to-face with their mother who they thought had died 40 years prior.

The Times of India is reporting that when the mother was 42-years old, she was bitten by a cobra snake.

The family took her to a healer, but his efforts reportedly failed.

Oddity Central notes that "thinking she had died, her family wrapped the woman's body in cloth, placed it on a wooden float and released into the sacred Ganges river, hoping it would bring her to life."

However, a man later found her downstream, alive and with no memory of who she was or what had happened to her, notes the Indian Express.

The media outlet reports that about four decades later, recollections of her previous life started to come back, and eventually, someone from her village was able to identify her.

The Times of India reports that the 82-year-old woman showed up at the family home, with one of the daughters saying, "We immediately recognised her from a birthmark."

It was then that her children learned she had not died after the snakebite but, instead, had likely simply lost consciousness.

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Venomous Indian cobra

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Close up of cobra snake rising out of a basket, moving to music of the snake charmer flute. The Indian cobra, Naja naja, shown here with its hood expanded, is often regarded as the archetypal cobra.

The rarely-seen coastal taipan is one of the world's most dangerous snakes. They have long fangs and an extremely potent venom. Taipans are only found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.This species is typically known from the east coast but small populations occur in the Northern Territory and in Western Australia. This specimen was found in the North Kimberley in Western Australia.

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A Spitting Black-Necked Cobra (Naja nigricollis) in Africa,.

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The Indian Cobra is known around the world as highly venomous snake that feeds on rodents, lizards, and frogs. As well as biting, the Indian cobra can attack or defend itself from a distance by "spitting" venom, which, if it enters the opponent's eyes, causes severe pain and damage. The snake actually forces the venom through its fangs, by exerting muscular pressure on the venom glands, so that it sprays out in twin jets for 2 m (6 1/2 ft) or more. Behaviour of Indian Cobra When threatened, the Indian Cobra will assume its characteristic posture. It will raise the front one-third of its body and elongate its long, flexible neck ribs and loose skin to form its distinctive hood, on which are resembled eyes. .Status of Cobra in India Although the Indian Cobra is not an endangered species, it has recently been hunted for its distinctive hood markings in the production of handbags. It is listed under the treaty because it closely resembles other species that are threatened and in need of protection. Physical Characteristics of Indian Cobra The Indian Cobra's most known characteristic features are the wide black band on the underside of the neck, and the hood marking design which shows half-rings on either side of the hood. It is a smooth-scaled snake with black eyes, a wide neck and head, and a medium-sized body. Its colouring varies from black, to dark brown, to a creamy white. The body is usually covered with a spectacled white or yellow pattern, which sometimes forms ragged bands. The Indian cobra may grow from 1.8m to 2.2m. Those Cobras which have the single ring on the hood are found in Assam and Eastern India and spit venom like the Ringhals Cobra of South Africa which can eject a spray for a distance of more than two meters and cause severe eye pain, sometimes blindness. Keepers who attend this particular variety of Cobra sensibly wear goggles.

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Most of cobra species are in the family Elapidae, all of which are venomous. Most of them can spread their neck ribs to form a flattened, widened hood.